Friedrich m



F. M. LUCHS.

BREATHING APPARATUS.

APPLxcATloN FILED JUNEzl. 19m.

1,308,599, Patented July 1, 1919.

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UNITED STAES FRIEDRICH M. LUCHS, OF WILKINSBURG', PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNORTO AMERICAN ATMOS CORPORATION, 0F WILKINSBURG STATION, PITTSBURGH,PENNSYLVANIA,

A CORPORATION 0F NEW YORK. J

BREATHING APPARATUS.

ratus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or gures ofreference marked thereon;

I structed, and whic which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to breathing apparatus, mine rescue apparatus andany apparatus in which high ressure gases are to be inconstantlysupplied at reduced pressure.

'My improvement consists in the correlation of the high pressure gassupply valve and the pressure equalizing or breathing bag ofsuchapparatus. i y

Asis well known, diiierent individuals have different breathingcapacities and respiration periods, and where the supply of oxygen tothe breathing apparatus is regu# lated to a constant flow through areduclng valve to the apparatus, the supply of oXygen may beconsiderably in excess of that required by the particular individualusing the apparatus; or the requirements of the individual may be abovethe average, when the supply will be too small. v

It has been a problem to supply vthe oxyen to the apparatus inquantities required ior the individual for the time being using theapparatus. I believe that I have solved this problem by operating asupply valve in accordance with the volume of gas 'of reduced pressurein the apparatus, and directly from the breathing bag, the control beingautomatic and by the breathing of the person using the apparatus.

The form of ap aratus which-I have conis preferred by the purchasingpublic, I have illustrated in tne accompanying drawings, and inwhich-like parts are similarly des1gnated. s

Specification of Letters Patent.

in the county of Allegheny andis'in the form oir' a screw, havin iPatented July 1, 1919.

Application led J une 27, 1918. Serial No. 242,179.

Figure 1 represents a breathing apparatus partly 1n section, theabsorber and mouthpiece being diagrammatic.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central section, on an enlarged scale, of thesupply valve, taken on line 2-2of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross section, enlarged, taken on line 3 3 of Fie. 1.

The breathing apparatus comprises the customary oxygen container a, theinflatable pressure equalizer or breathing bag I), the

4cooler tube c, the mouth piece d, with inlet and outlet valves, and thecarbonic acid absorber or regenerator e. These parts are of well knownconstruction, and need no explanation.

Attached to one wall, preferably the back wall, of the HeXible breathingbag I) is a plate 1, referably but not necessarily inside the ag. Theattachment is made b l an outer plate 2 through which and the wa l ofthe bag pass screws 3 screwed into the plate 1, and by additional screwsand wash-- ers 4. On this plate l is a valve body 5 havmg athreadednipple 6 for connection by a tube 7 with the oxygen container a. Apassage 8 leads through the nipple 6 and body 5 to a contracted outletopening 9 in a threaded valve seat 10 projecting from the body 5parallel or substantially parallel with the rear wall of the bag b.

In threaded engagement with the valve seat 10 is a cylindrical valvecarrying member 11, carrylng the valve 12. The valve 12 a noncombustibleseating portion 13, which is removable in case of wear. The obturatingelement or screw valve l12 is held in place by a lock nut 14, whichstructure permits take-up for wear.

The member 11 has an annular end-groove 15 in which is placed a coilspring 16 surrounding the threaded portion 11n of the valve carryingmember 11 and included between the portions 11il and 11b thereof. Oneend of the spring 16 is secured to the member 11, as at 17, and theother end is secured 1n an eye 18 at-one end of an actuating lever 19,as at 20. The member 11 is also provided with ports 21.

rlhe cylindrical portion 11b of member 11 is cut away, as shown at Fig.8, forming `,opened and closed directly by said lever 19.

' The other end of lever 19 carries a pin 24 sorption of this poisonousgas inthe aboperating in slot 25 in a stud 26 secured to the other(front) wall of the breathing bag.

rlhe operation is as follows, assuming the oxygen flow from container ahas been turned on and the bag contains the normal amount of air,inhalation and exhalation will alternately collapse and expand the bag.After a short time the normal volume of gas in the circuit of theapparatus will be lnoticed to decrease, the bagwill not be as full asbefore. This is due to the conversion of the oxygen content intocarbonio acid by the lungs of the user and the absorber.

lhe collapse of the bag opens the supply, valve and permits oxygen toenter it from container a, inflating the bag, and thereby closing orpartially closing the valve again according to requirements.

The spring 16 allows a certain movement of lever 19, to` correspond tothe indation and deflation of bag b without opening the valve 12, or tobut avery small extent.

An amount of movement greater than that taking place in a normallyfilled bag, as

when the user is doing hard physical work, will cause the valve to openby an excessive collapse of the bag at the inhalation periodo Should thespring become too weak, or broken, or the obturating member 12 of thevalve stick, then lever 19 will actuate the valve directly by strikingthe abutments 22 My valve takes the place of the customary reducingvalve, and while these reducing valves supply gas constantly at a lowerpressure than that in the sup-ply container, my valve does not give aconstant supply, but the supply isvariable with the consumption,consequently l am able to materially reduce the weigh-t of breathingapparatus by dispensing with the heavy casings and parts of the reducingvalve.

'lhe bag itself may be lighter, as it does not have to sustain suchheavy pressure due to the constant supply of gas from areducing valve.Furthermore, when using reducing valves the entire content of the oxygencylinder will not be delivered through the reducing valve, so that thegas below about 100 -pounds is not used, and in fact the gas below about200 lbs. 'is not properly discharged. The `consequence is that much gasis wasted.

With my device the gas is consumed until the pressure in the oxygencylinder falls to atmospheric pressure. By reason of this the ineens@apparatusl but may be used in any art where l high pressure gas isdelivered vto an inflatable pressure equalizer and the discharge of thegas into the equalizer is controlled in accordance with the consumption.

l claim- 1. The combination with :an indatabl-e equalizing chamber, of aconduit to admit respired air thereto, a valve for high pressure gasdischarging only within said chamber, said chamber having two movablewalls and said valve actuated for both opening and closing by themovement of either or both of said walls.

2. rlhe combination with an inflatable equalizing chamber having twoflexible walls and a pressure gas supply; of a valve for said supplyhaving a seat member and an obturating member, each member connected toa wall, whereby the movement of either or both walls will actuate thevalve.

3. llhe combination with an inflatable equalizing chamber having twoflexible walls and a pressure gas supply; of a valve for said supplydischarging directly into said chamber and having a seat vmember and anobturating member, each connected to one of the walls, a spring forcontrolling the normal operation of said obturating member and means topositively open and close said Valve. I

rl`he combination with an inflatable equalizing chamber having a pairof'flexible walls and a pressure gas supply; of a valve for said supplycontained within said chamber having its seat member connected to oneflexible wall and its obturating member connected to the other' exiblewall, whereby the movement of either or both. walls will actuate saidvalve.

5. 'lhe combination with an infiatable equalizing chamber `and apressure gas supply; of Va valve interposed therebetween, the valve seatconnected to one wall of said chamber, a valve actuating lever connectedto another wall of said chamber, and a spring interposed between saidvalve and lever to permit a limited movement of the chamber wallswithout actuating the valve.

6. rlhe combination with an inflatable equalizing chamber and a pressuregas supply; ofa valve interposed therebetween, the valve seat thereofconnected with one wall of said chamber, a valve operating leverconnected withthe opposite wall of said chamber, a spring interposedbetween said lever and the obturating member of said valve, andabutments connected with the obturating member of the valve Iarranged inthe path lll@ of movement of said lever, whereby said member'may bepositively actuated by said v ber and having a threaded portion, acylindrical ported valve carrying member in threaded engagement withsaid seat, said member having a co-axial groove in one end, and theouter cylindrical portion cut away for a portion of its periphery toform abutments, an obturatingZ screw in said member, a lever having aneye at one end loose in said groove and projecting through said cut-awayportion, a spring in said groove interposed between said eye and member,and means to opera/tively pivot the opposite end of the lever to theopposite Wall of said chamber.

.8. IThe combination with the flexible Walls of a breathing 'bag and abottle containing oxygen under high pressure; of a valve Within said bagcomprising an obturating member connected to one flexible Wall of saidbag and a seat member connected to another flexible Wall of saidbag, themovements of the. Walls of the bag operating to open and close saidvalve and control the admlssion of high pressure oxygen directly intothe bag.

In testimony `that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signedmy name hereto.

FRIEDRICH M. LUCHS.

